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Brush is 2,500 pounds lighter

Suzanna Spears of Brush is shown at a Weigh and Win kiosk. The health and fitness program has allowed her and others to drop a combined 2,500 unwanted pounds. (News-Tribune/Katie Collins)

What weighs 2,500 pounds less and will celebrate the New Year in better health?

About 500 Brush residents who participated in the Weigh and Win program at the East Morgan County Hospital. Together, participants amassed more than 2,500 pounds in weight loss.

The program was installed in 2013, and the following three years has resulted in a remarkable impact on the community. The program offers a kiosk at Brush and Yuma locations.

The program includes 497 participants, with 278 having repeated the program.

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According to the end-of-the-year numbers, the average Body-Mass Index of Brush users is 34.4, and 84 percent of participants thus far have also been female. Program organizers hope to entice more males to try their hand at the program.

Challenges are put forth throughout the year to entice members to continue their effort or even to gather with other residents for support, including the annual Healthy Holiday Challenge, ongoing through January.

Full of frequent celebrations and quality time spent with friends and family, the holidays can be an exciting time, but require extraordinary willpower while navigating the constant temptation of sumptuous holiday eats.

For local participants, such as Brush resident Suzanna Spears, however, navigating through trying times while attempting to maintain a healthy lifestyle is made even easier with help from the Weigh and Win program.

As a three-year participant in the program, Spears was first enticed by her ties to the community and hospital. When the Weigh and Win program was first being considered, Spears served as a big proponent. She’s an eight-year member of the hospital’s district board and current member of the foundation board.

“When the hospital was originally considering this opportunity, it was a cooperative venture between the City of Brush, Eben Ezer and EMCH hospital,” Spears said. “I immediately thought it could be a great opportunity and wanted to support it. It really speaks to the way that our city and hospital view wellness and how much we want to help others.

“Neither gets anything other than a healthier community. And isn’t that a wonderful thing.”

She boasts that in 2014 she turned age 70, and then made a commitment to have better focus on her “health, my quality of life and well-being and that I had to be responsible for it.”

Spears is the grandmother to 10.

“This fit with my personal goal I’d set to become more intentional about my life,” she said.

Between water aerobics at the EMCH rehab center’s pool, Tai Chi at the Brush library and joining a plethora of 5K runs and walks, Spears points to her involvement in the Weigh and Win program for helping her achieve life-long health goals, for helping her lose 11 pounds and in building muscle, endurance, flexibility and strength.

It’s not just a transformation on the outside.

“I have the ability to breathe better, I have better balance, persistence and I can exercise for longer periods of time now,” she said. “And mostly I am so very proud of myself for accomplishing more and more.”

Besides creative seasonal challenges, Spears points to the Weigh and Win program’s ability to provide person-to-person aid and information with an online program that doubles as a personal trainer, along with the privacy and individuality that puts each person in charge of their own results.

“The thing is, you are not alone,” said Spears, who often encourages others in the community or at her work to join in for camaraderie. “You have a lot of resources and people who are there and ready to help you, but you also get to enjoy the privacy and personal touch that many participants want. It gives you the tools and the freedom to achieve your goals.”

For Spears, one favorite piece is the daily e-mails that provide knowledge and information, with topics ranging from how to shop more wisely, how to stretch your food dollar to get nutritious purchases, how to change up exercise routines to get greater benefits to the importance of sleep and in relieving stress.

The program provides a plethora of ways to track progress made as well, through journals, daily log-ins to a personalized dashboard and weekly quizzes.

One of the more exciting portions for many includes the seasonal challenges that prompt participants to get in groups for encouragement and fun. Visit weighandwin.com.

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